A struggle for mortgage brokers too

12:01AM GMT 29 Jan 2005

Even if you work for a mortgage broker, it is still a struggle to get on to the housing ladder. Gareth Lowman and his girlfriend, Jane Johnson, work for Savills Private Finance and recently bought a two-bedroom flat in Wimbledon, south west London. Before this, Mr Lowman was renting, while Miss Johnson owned her own flat.

The couple bought their home for £275,000. They took out a mortgage from BM Solutions for £245,000 and raised the rest with savings and the equity from Miss Johnson's flat. Mr Lowman, 27, and Miss Johnson, 30, see getting on to the property ladder as an important but difficult step.

Mr Lowman said: "Our deposit was £30,000 and without a substantial amount of money, we would have had to look further, definitely outside London." They pay £840 a month for their tracker mortgage. Mr Lowman said: "At the time it was substantially better than a fixed-rate deal and seemed the best tracker deal on the market. In fact, our monthly mortgage repayments, split between us, work out cheaper than renting."